Observation 1
Date: Sep 17th, 2006 12:25:42 am - Subscribe
Having been raised in a European American home where we were very involved in our church, I chose to have the experience of attending an African-American church service on Sunday morning. My first observation was of the men standing in clusters outside the church to greet people. Everyone was dressed in suits and the ladies (most already seated in the church) were attired in nice “Sunday dresses”. Some of the ladies wore very ornate and large hats (crowns, as they referred to them). Already both of my observations were in direct contrast to my typical Sunday morning experience at my own church. As the church service began a gentleman introduced the special musicians for the day, including the drummer (the pastor’s son) and the guitar instrumentalists. The music was a mix of very traditional hymns similar to those I sing at my regular church, African American gospel tunes and more modern soul music. Most of the music was very loud, and everyone fully participated. After the special music by an all women’s choir, the African American pastor, Brother (name), approached the stage with his Bible in his hand and begin to slowly speak his message. As he moved through his message he got progressively louder and faster and more passionate. He frequently asked for the congregation to respond to his statements. (Something Payne discusses in her work on Story Structures.) After taking an offering while the “band” played, a passionate prayer completed the service. Lots of socializing/visiting occurred as everyone slowly departed.
I found myself comparing every phase of my observations to my own experiences in my own church. Although everyone was very friendly, I felt I was clearly in someone else’s territory. I couldn’t help but think of the African American children that attend the school where I work. Our school is in a middle-class white neighborhood across town from where most of them live. I had a renewed commitment to learn about their culture and find ways to bring that into our classrooms. It was clear that just as our text points out, the community that I was visiting in was much more group focused/dependent than my own community where individualism is encouraged. The “hidden rules” of the African American community were foreign enough to me that without someone from that community guiding me through the rituals, I was often lost in the expected responses during worship. Their language patterns (rhythm, pronunciation and semantics) as both of our texts have pointed out constantly made me struggle to get the full meaning of their discourse. I was fascinated by their minister’s story structure per Payne’s work. He followed Payne’s outline exactly…first he talked about the characters, the ending of the story and then told snippets from the Biblical story which were intermingled with audience participation or responses. His focus was clearly on the characters. As he moved through his message he became more and more involved with the audience and “entertainment” took a stronger part in his message. Each of these elements was again supported by Payne’s work. This pattern was very different from what I have become accustomed to in my own culture and worship experience. My pastor utilizes the more formal-register story structure with emphasis on chronological order of the story and the plot. Sometimes I found it hard to follow the pastor of the church that I was visiting. The congregation, just as our text points out, shared a feeling of unity. Their service was more openly emotional than my usual church experience, but this matches my observations and new learning about the African American culture. The rituals although based on similar Biblical beliefs often kept me from being able to fully participate in the service. I couldn’t help but wonder if this is how our students feel when they attend classes that are so far from the daily rituals of their home life.
As the service ended some of my current and past African American students came up and hugged me. I caught myself immediately feeling more relaxed and secure. Relationships can help break down barriers and borders. I was also interested to observe the choir director who is also an African American teacher in our district (not on my campus). His persona was different than I have observed when he is on the multicultural, middle-school campus where he teaches math. He took on the culture of the people he was working with on this Sunday morning. I studied these differences and realized that he is definitely “bi-cultural”.
During my reflections on the visit I have noted many connections to the information that our texts have shared with us on the beliefs, symbols and interpretations of different cultures. I am seeing what seems to break down these cultural borders and barriers as I am becoming more aware of other cultures and their “hidden rules”. I am now constantly examining my own thinking and actions to make sure that others feel honored and respected for who they are and the place that each of our cultures has in our relationships. The next step is to be sure that I am leading my staff to a similar awareness and response.
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